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Table 2 Variables of interest derived from Dogslife questionnaires relating to lifestyle, routine care and insurance status

From: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a cohort of Labrador retrievers in England

Name of variable

Relevant Dogslife questionnaire question(s) and answer(s) reported by owners

Description of variable

Exercise quantity

Q: On average, in the last week for how long does [dog name] do the following exercise(s) EACH day (Weekday/Weekend): Walking on the lead? Running on the lead? Walking/running off the lead? Exercise involving fetching, chasing or retrieving? Obedience training? Other playing activity (including dogs playing together)?

A: [None, 1–5 min, 5–15 min, 15–30 min, 30–60 min, 1–2 hrs, Over 2 hrs]

Multiple categorical Dogslife questions transformed to a single continuous variable to estimate dogs’ minutes of exercise per week

Dried food quantity

Q: How much dried food do you feed [dog name] in total each day?

A: [Free text with unit box]

Continuous variable converted into grams of dried food fed to dogs per day reported by owners

Insurance status

Q: Is [dog name] insured? A: [Yes/No]

Binomial yes/no variable

Titbits status

Q: Does [dog name] also receive ‘titbits’? For example anything else [dog name] eats such as food off your plate, training treats, chews etc. A: [Yes/No]

Binomial yes/no variable

Sleep-person status

Q: Where does [dog name] sleep at night?

A: [Alone in a room in a house, In a room shared with a person, In a room shared with a pet, In a room shared with a pet and a person, Outside, Other]

Transformed into a single binomial yes/no variable to categorise whether dogs sleep with a person at night

Bathed SLVa

Q: Has [dog name] been bathed since you last visited the site? A: [Yes/No]

Binomial yes/no variable

Anti-parasitic SLVa

Q: Have you used any products to prevent or treat fleas or ticks since you last visited the site? A: [Yes/No]

Binomial yes/no variable

Wormed SLVa

Q: Has [dog name] been wormed since you last visited the site? A: [Yes/No]

Binomial yes/no variable

Vaccinated SLVa

Q: Has [dog name] been vaccinated since you last visited the site? A: [Yes/No]

Binomial yes/no variable

  1. aSince the owner’s last visit to the Dogslife website (SLV)